First, High School Musical director Kenny Ortega dropped out of the project in 2009, followed by High School Musical star Zac Efron. When Efron's replacement, Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl fame, quit the production, all seemed lost.

At that point, the new Footloose, based on the 1984 Kevin Bacon teen flick, was anything but fancy-free. Then a series of fortunate events, including the hiring of writer-director Craig Brewer, led to a new energy and a revamped movie musical, which opens in theatres on Oct. 14.

In the update, Kenny Wormald from MTV's Dancelife plays Bacon's role of Ren, a rebellious teen from the city who moves to a small town after his mother dies. Dancing with the Stars veteran Julianne Hough plays Ren's love interest, Ariel, while Dennis Quaid co-stars as her father and town preacher who championed the banning of dancing after his son was killed in a car crash returning home from a shindig.

As in the original, Ren, the hoofer, gets reprimanded for his pop-culture ways by the townsfolk, who don't take kindly to his loud music and hip shaking.

There are other similarities. In the new Footloose, just like the old one, Ren does his angry dance in an abandoned mill, and teaches his awkward buddy Willard (Miles Teller) a few moves in preparation for a beyond-town-limits dance party.

The familiar 1980s chart-toppers from Footloose also show up in the re-tooling, but with a slightly modern makeover.

Instead of Kenny Loggins belting out the title track, Blake Shelton puts a little country in the new version. Ella Mae Brown's down-home rendition of Holding Out for a Hero spruces up the Bonnie Tyler number. Almost Paradise, originally rendered by Heart's Anne Wilson and Loverboy's Mike Reno, gets reworked by Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice and Nashville newcomer Hunter Hayes. And One Tree Hill's Jana Kramer does a quasi-cover of Deniece Williams' Let's Hear It for the Boy.

At first, Brewer didn't seem like an appropriate choice to direct the Footloose remake, let alone be loyal to the Footloose trademarks. His claim to fame was 2005's edgy Hustle & Flow, and the raunchy 2007 Black Snake Moan.

During a recent Toronto interview with headliners Wormald and Hough, Brewer said his obsession with popular music helped him shape Footloose. So did his reverence for the original film.

"I struggled with the idea of re-doing Footloose," admitted Brewer. "When I first I read that they were remaking it, I remember thinking, 'That's a bad idea.'"

In fact, when the studio first called Brewer after Ortega quit the project, "I took a pass," he says. He finally changed his mind, he says, because, "I always wanted to do something with country, rap and rock 'n' roll in one movie."

Hough, 23, said she was especially thrilled to win the female lead in the production. She has a special place in her heart for Footloose. Her brother Derek Hough played Ren in the London stage version of Footloose. And, on her daily walk to dance class as a kid, she used to pass by the suburban mill in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Bacon did his "angry dance" in the 1984 flick.

Her associations with the film also made her aware of the loyal fan base and the expectations that would arrive with a remake. "But I couldn't let that get to me," Hough said. "You have to do your best, and not worry about what people think, because if you do, it will hold you back."

Wormald, 27, was a big fan of the first Footloose, as well. But he refused to get caught up in comparing his work with Bacon's iconic performance.

"For me, it was important that I was learning something new every day on set," said Wormald. "The dancing was obviously easier for me, but I was looking forward to proving myself as actor."

Both dancers admitted that they were initially nervous to act opposite the veteran Quaid, but he put them at ease quickly.

"He was incredible," said Wormald of Quaid. "I think he came into the project expecting one thing, but then he realized he had to work a little harder when he saw how committed we were."

"To get the respect of a seasoned actor," said Hough, "made me feel like I belonged in a scene with him."

They have an equal amount of praise for Brewer, who re-wrote the screenplay with an eye for social awareness.

"It's so refreshing to do a teen movie with this much substance," said Hough.

Added Wormald, "And I liked the fact that Craig kept the Footloose beats you couldn't skip, but added some new cool 2011 things."

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